Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Cuts Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 453,706 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 4,369 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.06% of Blackstone worth $63,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $137.28 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.42. The stock has a market cap of $100.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.

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